Once, in a cross country race junior year of high school. I was dehydrated and collapsed at 2.5 miles. I tried to get up and keep running (idiotic as that sounds - obviously I was not thinking clearly at that point) but my coach saw me and convinced me to lay down in the shade instead.
I would not say DNS is weak if you are just unable to do it. A DNS becomes weak when you look at the heat sheets then go crying to your coach "blah blah...wha..coach can you scratch me?
I DNF'ed only once when I was in high school during conference when I came back from a stress fracture that kept me out of running for about 5 weeks. I hung on the lead pack until for 2.5 miles until basically just passed out. Thats what you get when you don't run for 5 weeks and just aqua jog. At least regionals were better the following week
My 1 DNF came under very similar circumstances. I had pulled my right calf muscle approx. 10 days before a 15k race. I went a head and toed the line and around the 1 mile mark I could feeling tightening up. I dropped out. I was worried about getting 3 miles out and having to limp back.
DNF'd Indy Mini-Marathon back in 2000. Lightly pulled a hamstring the week before running a 5 mile tuneup race. About 5 miles into the race, I was 2:00 off pace already, badly dehydrated (race was "black flagged" due to heat), hammy cramping up something terrible, decided to drop and wait for the sag wagon. Waited over an hour, people still going by on the course. Decided to cut the course, jogged 5 miles back to the start.
DNF'd a 5-mile race in 2002 for no particular reason, just didn't feel like racing. Was on PR pace through 2 miles. Really went out too hard.
Haven't raced much since then, aside from a few 5k's. I think I'm a head case.
I've never DNF'd. I once broke my foot in the middle of a mile, and ended up PR'ing.
Once in a 4 x 800. I got hit by a discus thrown by some dork warming up on the field. It bounced on the track and took y legs out from under me. I did manage to hold onto the baton.
No DNF's. I would have had one, though, except that I couldn't find a shorter way back to my car that didn't go through the finish line. It was a 10K trail run, 6 days after my first half marathon. I went out too fast, felt like crap, didn't know how else to get back to my car besides just following the course. I took 3rd in my division.
i have never dnf but i have recently dns. i was running the 5k at mizzou track meet and i ran in the slow heat and sucked. i ended up running like 16:24, but when i looked up at my heat results, it said that i did not start. ill tell you that i was really tired and sore for having not run at all.
3 Marathons and 2 5K DNFs. The Marathons were all my stupidity of trying to run through a "medical condition" and/or injured. The first 5K I was very sick and didn't want to miss it (stupid again) and the 2nd 5K I felt like I was going to pass out after a first mile that I wasn't ready for. I wouldn't suggest any of the above.
Zero. Limped home on a pulled hamstring 3 times, but was never more than 30 meters from the finish. One 60m, one 100m, one 880 yd. Walked more than I care to admit over the last 6 miles of a marathon once, which felt like a DNF to me at the time.
A marathon, and a couple 10ks, and then some races I jogged in after shit hit the fan. All due in part to either a low back or calf injury.
Alan
I had two DNF.
First was my senior year in high school in xc, the first meet. I had torn my MCL in my knee the track season before and was still having some soreness in it. Well I was running down a hill and some dumbass pushed me and I twisted my knee about 1.5 miles into it. I tried to get up to run again but I took one step and fell down in extreme pain.
Second was senior year in track. I was running the 1600 and about 2 laps into it, me and this kid were in front. He starts to pass me by the start line and he got to close to me and I kicked him on accident. Well he got pissed and pushed me off the track and I sprained my ankle really bad.
So I get beat up alot during races.
How many times have you DNF, what event and why?','801261','802069','Three times. First two were during my outdoor season my senior year of high school, both due to asthma/allergy problems. One, I was just having a terrible 1500, and my coach pulled me off the track with 400 to go after my much slower teammate passed me, and I was wheezing like crazy. The other one was with 300m to go in an 800 when I literally could not get air into my lungs...same thing had happened with about 30m to go in a 400 earlier that day, but I had somehow finished that one (albeit realllly slowly). It sucked.
Other DNF came in an open track meet 1500, 400m into it I got this massive recurring cramp in my right side, felt like someone had shot me. Made it another 200m, but then just stopped due to the splitting pain.
DNF\'ed once, got pity claps since I was basically 40 seconds behind everyone else in a track 5k, and about a minute off of my pr. My question is this, would you feel better about yourself after finishing a terrible race like that, or just dropping out and not having to know how horrible of a time you really would have run?'
i have never in my life DNF. I am proud to have finished every race even if it was not the best thing to do.
Sunmart 50k.....IT Band was killing me before the run but you gotta go for it...DNF at 18 miles, crawled the last 3 miles in, could not even walk (that kinda pain still makes me cringe)or I would have friggin walked the last 13....
In 21 years of racing, 5 times:
In my senior year of XC in college, I was racing for 3rd place, the leaders well ahead though, and strained my calf about 3/4 of mile from the finish in 8k cross. The whole pack passed me; even the guys that were jogging and gave up. I got picked up by the golf cart. I didn't even jog until thursday of the next week, with my calf still bothering me, my coach pulled me out of the Pre-NCAA meet about 3 miles in. So that's two.
The most notable (in my mind) of my DNF's was when I was tripped with a lap and a half left in an indoor mile. I was knocked out, and didn't come to until a little before the other athletes were coming into the last 100m of their race.
I DNF'd a couple of last chance meets before the '96 and '04 trials that were not going optimally, and a 5k at our college conference meet after a win and a near pr in the 1500m.
I had never DNF'd, no matter how nadly the race went, including a painful 16:51 5km where everything went to shit from mile one...
until 2003 when i was running a cross invite and my hamstring seized up and I was running on one leg. It was terrible. Same thing happened 2 weeks later.
7 DNF's out of 235 starts:
-------------------------
8/79 Dannon Yogurt 10K, Hamilton, MA (mi. 1/very ill)
11/98 Pete McCardle XC 15K (mi. 5/no guts)
4/99 Boston Marathon (mi. 24/passed out, heat exaustion, woke up at Beth Israel)
8/99 NYC Marathon Tune-Up (ran off course, too hot and crowded for a training run)
11/01 Pete McCardle XC 15K (mi. 3/no guts, although I have finished top 20 in this event)
9/03 Yonkers Half Marathon (injury)
10/03 Chicago Marathon (same injury)
*Also had to WALK in 4 different Marathons, 1 Half and the Mt. Washington RR.
1999 Singapore Marathon: Almost got hit by a bus. (they didn't have the roads closed off). Dropped out at 16km
2001 Bangkok Marathon: Just outta gas. 30km.
2001 Fukuoka Marathon: Severe lower back pains. 5km. Very embarassing.
2002 Nagano Marathon. Incredibly stupid training. I had a bad race at the Crescent City Classic 2 weeks before the race due to jetlag, then went to Japan and did a hard 40km training run 1 week before the race. That was incredibly stupid. So i go to nagano anyway and by half way I was running outta gas. So I ran to the 26km point and then jogged to 30km and dropped out.